Preliminary study of the development of the subfossil chironomid fauna (Diptera) of Lake Taylor,South Island,New Zealand,during the younger Holocene

The composition and succession of the subfossil chironomid fauna has been studied in a sediment core from Lake Taylor. The sediments of the core are all within the Nothofagus phase of the last 3000 years within the Aranuian. In the older sediments of the core the chironomid fauna was dominated by Tanytarsini and Orthocladiinae whereas Chironomini dominated in the more recent sediments. The species diversity is very high compared with the results of other studies of the recent chironomid fauna of lakes in the South Island. The most abundant head capsules belong to the taxa Chironomus zealandicus, Tanytarsus vespertinus, Corynocera sp., and Eukiefferiella sp. Several additional taxa which have not yet been described also occurred in large numbers. It is not possible to correlate any definite changes in the composition of the subfossil chironomid fauna with a change in climatic conditions or the trophic status of the lake.